Twilight My Version
by MaximumRide95
Summary: Phil abuses Bella, Renee won't help her. She goes to live with her dad and relizes that one of her few friends is part witch, elf, and human AND is the princess of witches and wizards. She goes to school ... what will happen? Bella has better balance!
1. Fresh Start

**AN: This is my first Twilight fanfiction (though the most fanfictions I read is Twilight). It's basically the way I wish Twilight was written, though there is NOTHING wrong with the original book. I have started writing this because I let some of my close friends read it and they love it, so I'm putting it up here. This is not a Harry Potter and/or Lord of the Rings crossover, though some of the characters do appear because of the witch in the story. I hope you enjoy it and I'll update as much as possible but I can't (and won't) make any promises. If I don't get some alerts, reviews, and/or favorites, then I'll stop writing it and possibly delete the story.**

**P.S: For those of you who are reading my Maximum Ride fictions, the reason I haven't updated them lately is because: 1) My computer broke down and I had to get some one to fix it, and 2) I have no clue on what to put on any of them. So if ya'll have any ideas, I'm more than willing to try them out. Just tell me the story name and your idea. Thanks!**

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except Zerlinda and her family who are all of my own creation.**

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**Chapter 1: Fresh Start**

My mother hugged me good-bye before I boarded the plane. She hugged me, but I could tell she was just giving me a guilt trip. Once Renee released me, I nodded to Phil, who nodded back. I hated him and everyone in the family knew it. But they weren't sure why, except me and him. Though I told Renee about him, she didn't believe me. I'll explain that later. **(An: though ya'll probably already know from the summary)** I turned my back on my mother and my stepfather and handed the lady my boarding pass. She scanned it and I past through.

My plane landed in the Seattle airport a couple hours later. I was the last one to leave the once crowded plane. As i waked into the airport, I spotted my dad, Charlie, waiting for me in his police uniform. He was over joyed to see me and vice versa. We walked out to the parking lot and I was thankful when he didn't lead me to his police cruiser, but, instead, an old, rusty, chevy truck. Charlie turne to face me slamming his hand on the hood.

"What do you think?" he asked. i threw my luggage into the bed of the truck.

"It's nice." I complimented.

"It's yours." Charlie informed me. I felt my eyes grow into orbs as he motioned for me to get in on the passenger side. I complied and he climbed in behind the wheel.

"Mine?" I squeaked in disbelief. I had been saving up what little money I had earned in Arizona to buy a car.

"Yep." Charlie replied with a pop in his _p._ "got it off Billy. You remember Billy Black, right?" I nodded Billy Black was one of Charlie's best friends. I ran my hand across the dashboard.

"Thanks, Ch- Dad. This is great. How much do I owe you?" I looked over to my left to see Charlie shaking his head.

"Nothing." He told me. "This is your homecoming present."

"But this must've cost you a lot of money." I protested. "Let me pay you back."

He sighed.

"Truthfulle, it didn't cost me a penney." He informed me to my greatest surprise. Billy gave it to me for free." I raised my eyebrows in surprise as I turned my bead to look out the window.

We spent the rest of the ride in silence. Charlie made a few attempt to satrt a conversation again, but didn't suceed. Silence was fine by me, though. Neither of us were big talkers.

The weather outside was gloomy and raindrops started to fall from the gray clouds above. The moss-coveredd tees past up by and i rested my head against the cool glass of the window. Time passed and I'm unsure as to how long it was before Charlie pulled the truck into a driveway.

When I looked up, I saw Charlie's house. I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the car door. As i stepped out into the chilled Forks, Washington air, I shivered slightly. I retrieved my thins from the truck's bed and walked up the stars of the house to my old room.

I threw my things down and examined the setting around me. It hadn't really changed since I'd last been up here ten years ago. **(AN: The way her room looks is different from the way it looks in the book, so you might want to read this, just so you know)** The walls were still the same shad of forest green. The carpet was still dark brown and the curtains were still dark blue. My bed was still made of mahogany wood, alon with all my other wood furnishings, with a bedspread the same color of my curtains and sheet of a silver-like color. A cusioned chair, with a mixture of the colors of my curtains, sheets, and carpet, was till sitting in the corner to the right o my bed and close to my bookshelf.

My dest sat next to he window, and, above the desk, was a shelf of CDs that i had downloaded to my ipod. I placed my silver classic **(I so want that. My nano's running out of space)** in the black ihome that was sitting on an end table beside my bed. A black and silver laptop rested on top of my desk infron of a wooden chair with a green cushion.

I began to get settled, unpacking my luggage and putting things in their proper place. Doing occasional dance steps **(AN: Bella has much more balance in this fic) **across the wide space at the end of my bed. I would miss my dance classes, but sometimes you had to sacrifice somethings for a better life. It was sunset when I finally finished getting settled.

As I stodd on my tip-toes and puashed my suitcases onto the shelf above the rack of clothes in my closet, I heard voices coming from outsied. Sliding my closetdoors together, I decided to see sho was here. I began to pray that Charlie hadn't planned a surprise party for me, because I honestly didn't want one.

Opening the door, I released a sight of relief slowly so no one would know I was holding it. That way, no one could draw wrong conclusions, or right conclusions.

It was only Billy and his son, Jacob Black. Charlie was running around in the street and Billy was chasing after him, pushing the wheels of his wheelchair as fast and hard as he could. Jacob, who had been watching them from the front porch, turned around as I closed the door shut behind me. He smiled.

"Hi." He said.

"Hello."I replied, walkking over to stand next to him.

"Remeber me?" He asked. "We use to make mudpies."

I nodded.

"I remember." I assured him. I glanced at our fathers and looked back at him. "Are they always like this?"

Jacob nodded.

"It's getting worse with old age." He told me. "So what do you think of my dad's old truck?"

"I love it!" I told him enthiastically.

"That's good. I workd on the engine some."

My eyes grew wide.

"Really?" I asked.

"Really." He comfirmed. A smill grew on my face.

"That's _awesome_." I told him and he smiled back.

"Do you need a ride home?" I offered.

"I have to drive my dad back." he told me. I mentally smacked myself.

"Well maybe for school." I ammended.

"I go to school on the rez." Again, I mentally smacked myself.

"Oh, that's too bad. It would've been nice to know atleast _one_ person."

The Bloack stayed until dark. We talked, made jokes, laughed, and got caught up on each other's lives. The left soon after we finished dinner.

"Im going to take a walk in the woods, Dad." I said after cleanign up dishes. I knew she probably wouldn't be there, but shut incase she was, I didn't want to miss a chance to see my old friend again. Charlie frowned and i could tell her really want to say no.

"Be extemely carefull." He told me. "And take this flachlight and pepper spray with you." I nodded and took the object from him. I knew he wanted to say no because he's concerned about my safety, but I knew that he also knew that I was growing up. I'll be eighteen soon and I wasn't a child. I stepped outside after putting on my coat. I walked around to the back of the house and headed for the woods.

Leaves crunched under my feet and I could see my breath coming out in small clouds infront of me. Teh flashlight was on, shining light on the area before me, and the pepper spray was in my pocket. Soon, I found what I was looking for and I felt my heart leap with joy. There was a small cottage and a flichering light from inside. I walked u the steps and, before I could raise my hand to knock, the door was open and a burst of warm air surrounded me.

"Come in." said a quiet musical voice. I walked into the warmth and the door closed behind me. I turned around and it was not until then that I realised that no one had opened nor closed the door, but it seemed to be doing it by itself. Looking around, I spotted Zerlinda coming out of the bedroom in a long, flanel, red and gold nightgown.

"Good evening, Bella. How are you?" She asked smiling. Her waist long, curled, sunshine-gold hair hung freeling down her back and her sapphire blue eyes sparkled in the flickering light of the fireplace.

"Happ to see you." I replied, causing her to laugh like music from a angel's harp.

"The feeling is neutral." She said. "So, how have you been?"

"Fine, same as usual." I said, lookking her over again before frowning. "You haven't changed... at all." When I last saw her, ten years ago, she was seventeen. Now, she didn't look a day over seventeen. Zerlinda sighed.

"Yes, I think I should explain that." She sat on the couch infront of the fire and motioned for me to sit with her. I complied to her unspoken request.

"I'm 30 percent elf." She told me. "Threfore I have better eyesight, hearing, balance, and more weather resistance. It also means that I stop aging at seventeen or eighteen. for me, it was seventee." I felt my eyes widen as she pushed her sunshine-gold hair behind to the other side of her neck, revealing a slightly pointed ear.

"Also," She continued. "You remember how no one opened the door right?" I nodded. "I'm 60 percent witch. I can do magic." As if to proove her statement, she lifted her hand and I could feel my eyes grow wider. In her hand, she appeared to be holding a glowing star. She closed her hand, then opened it again and the star was gone.

"I'm only 10 percent muggle. But you can't tell _anyone_ about this. Not without my 'okay'. Do you understand?"

"What are muggles?" I asked instead.

"Non-magic people." She explained. "People like you. They can't know magical creatures exist. And sense _I_ told you, if you tole someone without my 'okay', I would be in worse trouble than others would be."

"Are you _that_ bad?" I asked, joking. I knew she could be a trouble-maker if she wanted and/or needed to be one. She smiled a little at my joke and shrugged.

"Maybe. But my being the best trouble-maker around isn't the reason. The reason is because I'm also the Princess of witches and wizards. I would loose trust with my people and I can't let that happen."

I felt my jaw drop to the ground. She looked at me with questioning eyes that asked me, 'Do you understand? Will you promise me you won't tell anyone?'. To answer her unspoken questions, I spoke.

"I swear I won't tell anyone without your approval." Joy lit up in her blue, sapphire gems as she hugged me.

"Thank you so much, Bella. Most people don't like this, it makes them feel like they're a child who has to ask his/her parents if it's okay if they have some milk. But it's for the protection of my kind. Thank you for keeping this secret, I really didn't want to keep it from you."

"Is this why I never see you when I come visit. Your aging, or rather _not_ aging?" She nodded sadly. I understood better now, though it wasn't like I came up here often in the past ten years. Renee always let me come on weekends, not vacations, and booked my flight to land at like eleven at night, then I would have to leave around five the next morning. And that was only once a year. I gave up the fifth time this happened and just stopped coming, so it wasn't like I even really had the _time_ to try and visit her. But when I did, she was never at her cottage.

"I wanted to tell you before, I really did, but I wasn't sure if I could trust you. Like I said, I'm the princess, if I tell someone and that someone tells, I'm in hunormous trouble. I have to be extremely cautios about who I tell, but now I know you would never tell anyone without my okay."

"Of course not." I assured her. she smiled at me kindly. She was like and older sister figure to me. One of those older sisters you see in movies where the parents die and they end up becoming the mother. She suddenly sat up straight.

"I almost forgot." She said, fumbling with something around her neck, taking it off her neck and handing it to me. I opened my hand to look at it and gasped.

It was a gold necklace with a golden, lion's head as the pendant. The lion had rubies for the eyes and, when I flipped it over, I saw a hunting bow engraved into into the back of the lion's head with vines and leaves decorating it in the most simple and gorgeous way possible. The bow took up the entire space of the back of the lion's head and between the bow and the bowstring, I could see that the word _Love_ was engraved in a very neat and elegant script.

She had also place another necklace in my hand. This one was silver and had a red-painted silver rose as the pendant. There was a flat space behind the pendant where all the petals came together (since the flower had no stem) and there, in the same neat and elegant script, was the word _Love_.

I looked up from the gifts to see Zerlinda watching me closely.

"Wow. They're gorgeous." I said. "But they must have cost you a fortune."

To my surprise, Zerlinda threw back her head and laughed.

"They didn't cost me a thing!" Zerlinda told me at my questioning look. "My mother made them."

"Your _mother made_ these?" I asked with disbelief. Zerlinda nodded her head, still chuckling.

"Wow," I breathed, looking back at the presents.

"This," Zerlinda explained, pointing at the lion-head pendant. "Isn't exactly our family crest, but it was the best she could do. Our last name is Lionbow, it means courageous victory **(AN: I looked it up and the lion stands for courage or bravery and the bow stands for victory, so I just put two and two together)** and this is the best she could come up with for a pendant for our family crest."

"She couldn't just engrave it on a circle or something?" I asked before realizing how rude the comment was. But Zerlinda just chuckled some more.

"Nah, my mother, Herminia, was too creative for something that simple. And this one," She pointed to the silver necklace."She told me and my sisters that when when we find our true love, to give this to him so he will always remember us."

"You have sisters?" I asked, surprised. A sad, grim look overcame Zerlinda's face.

"Yes. I had 8. I was the middle child, the fifth one. This necklace use to belong to the youngest of my sisters, Adabelle."

"Used to?" I asked, completely schocked. "You _had?_" I layed stress on the past tense she had used. "What happened to them." Zerlinda smiled sadly.

"That," She said, standing up and I stood up too, "is a long, long story that should, and will, be saved for another time. It is late. Your father will be wondering where you are and you have school tomorrow." I nodded and slipped the gifts over my neck and tucked them under my clothing as Zerlinda walked me to the door.

"Goodnight, Zerinda, and thank you!"

"Your welcome, Bella. Goodnight."

I walked off back to my house. Charlie was alread passed out on the couch with the television still on football. I turned the tv off, took my shower and went to bed. Tomorrow, I will be the freak from the big city and I was just SO excited about that. How much fun it will be...

Not.

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**So ... what did you think? Edward comes in on the next chapter so yay! Alerts are encouraging, Favorites are better, but the best you can do for me is Review! Hope you enjoyed it!**

**-From Destiny**


	2. First Sight

**AN: Sorry it took so long to update, I had a couple of test I had to study for this week.**

**DISCLAIMER: I really don't know why we have to put these things up because it's called FANFICTION for a reason, but, whatev. I think we all know that I don't own Twilight so I'll stop putting these up for this fic.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 2: First Sight**

The next morning, I woke up and there was no sun peeking through the dark blue curtains. Not like I was expecting it to. I slowly crawled out from under the warmth of the bed and grabbed a long sleeve t-shirt and jeans. I tied my tennis shoes and brushed my hair until there was no trace of the mess that the night had made it, and made sure that Zerlinda's two necklaces were around my neck.. I grabbed my ipod and stopped just before opening the door. I debated whether I should bring something to pull my hair back with, but decided against it. There was no way I was showing my bruises to the entire school population.

Breakfast with Charlie was a quiet one. He tried making conversation with me, but that didn't work out too well. I'm _not_ a morning person and I was pretty much out of it until about an hour of being awake. Before leaving for work, Charlie wished me good luck and a good day at school. I attempted a smile, holding back the sarcastic remarks running through my head. I sat in the kitchen, taking it in. Nothing changed. The same pictures were still in the same spot as well as everything else. Did anything ever change in this house?

I was getting really bored just sitting at the house. I didn't bother turning on the TV because there's only kid shows on in the morning and I knew that if I listened to my ipod I would get too tied up in the music and then be late for school. I didn't want to be early nor late for school, but I couldn't stand just sitting there with absolutely nothing to do. Sighing, I threw on my jacket and headed for the wood behind the house. Maybe Zerlinda would be in her cottage.

I was in luck. Zerlinda was outside, wearing booty, cotton shorts and a tank top and her hair was up in a messy bun. But I was also shocked, because, surrounding her, were dozens of figures in black coming at her. They seemed to appear out of nowhere and as she did something that would literally kill them, they turned to smoke. Sweat poured down her face, wetting her clothing, but she kept going with a spark of determination in her sapphire blue eyes.

I knocked on a nearby tree, and I saw her give me a quick glance before all the figures went up in smoke. She walked over to me, panting, and managed a smile.

"Hey, Bella. Whats up?" She asked like it was a normal event. I looked at her with wide eyes.

"Uh ... what were those things?" I asked.

"That was just a spell I use to practice my offence and defence skills."

"How often do you do that?"

"Every morning unless I'm on a quest or mission or whatever you want to call it." Huh, so I guess it _is_ a normal event.

"So," she said. "What brings you here?"

"I got bored." I said merely and she nodded, giving me a look of understanding.

"Not time for school to start?"

"Not yet. I don't want to be too early, and I _definitely_ don't want to be late. Are you going to school?"

"No. Sorry."

"Why not?"

"I got things to do around here. Not to mention my stepmother keeps bugging the crap out of me. Plus, I'm not registered. Maybe next year."

"Last night," I said, changing the subject. "You told me that elves stopped aging at about seventeen or eighteen years old and that you stopped at seventeen." She nodded, telling me she remembered. "I was just curious as to what your _real_ age is."

"I was born about two hundred years ago." She looked up.

"You should start heading to school soon." She said. I nodded in agreement and headed back to the house, waving good bye. Raindrops started to fall and I hurried even more to my truck. When i finally got there, I sighed. It was warm and dry. I stuck the key into the ignition and cranked it up. The vehicle roared to life and I groaned. Just another thing to give me attention. I should have known this truck would have a flaw. But then I shrugged, it was better than riding in Charlie's cruiser, and that was a fact.

I found the school rather easily, which surprised me because this is my first time going there. It was just off the highway, like pretty much everything else in Forks, and you could only tell it was the school was by a wooden sign. It was more like a collection of houses with so many shrubs and trees I couldn't see it's size at first.

Unsure, I decided to park infront of the first building. There was a small sign over the door that read 'office' and though I was sure it was off limit since no one else parked there, I decided that I should get directions before I make myself look like an idiot by circling in the rain. I walked down the small, stone path that was lined with bushes and pushed open the door.

It was very warm and bright inside. The office was small and awards and notices covered the walls and a rather big clock ticked loudly in the silence. There was a long counter that was cluttered with wire baskets, filled with papers. I walked up to a red-haired woman behind the counter. She looked up as I approached.

"May I help you?"

"I'm Isabella Swan," Was all I was able to get out before awareness lit up her eyes. _Of course,_ I thought bitterly, _I should've know people would have gossiped about me before even meeting me._

"Of course," She said, digging through a stack of paper. She handed me my schedule and what appeared to be a map of the school. Picking up a highlighter, she began to highlight all my classes and routes that I should take. When she was done, I thanked her kindly and returned to my truck. I moved it into what appeared to be the place for students to park. As soon as I had my car parked I pulled out my schedule and map, hoping to have it memorized so that I won't be looking at it all the time.

Students started to arrive and I felt a wave of relief as I realized that most of them had older cars like me. Back in Pheonix, it was not uncommon to see a new, flashy car. Here, the most flashy car was a silver Volvo, which stood out. I stuffed all my books into my backpack and slung the strap on my shoulder, feeling slightly nervous. _They don't bite,_ I told myself as I got out of the car. I pulled my hood up to hide my face as I made my way around the cafeteria and to building three.

The classroom was small and I hung up my coat like the people infront of me. I gave my slip to the teacher, Mr. Mason, and I saw him gwak as he read my name. I flushed into the color of a ripe tomato at the disencouraging reaction. I was genuinely grateful that he just sent me to my seat without introducing me infront of everyone. I skimmed over the reading list Mr. Mason had given me and realized that I had already read everything. I didn't know if I should be happy about that or not. I let my mind wander as the teacher began to drone on and on.

There was a nasal buzzing sound and I realized it was the bell as a gangly boy with skin issues and hair black as an oil slick leaned across the aisle to talk to me.

"Isabella Swan, right?" He seemed to be the overly helpful kind of guy.

"Bella." I replied as everyone within a three-seat radius turned to look at me.

"I'm Eric. What's your next class." I suddenly became grateful that I had memorized my schedule.

"Um, Government, with Jefferson, in building six."

"I'm heading to building four, I could show you the way, if you want."

"Thanks." We got out jackets and headed out into the rain, which had picked up. I could have sworn several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. I really hope I'm not getting too paranoid.

"I'm guessing this is a lot different tan Phoenix, huh?"

"Extremely."

"Does it rain much there?"

"About three or four times a year."

"What's that like?"

"Sunny, warm, and dry." I told him.

"You're not very tan. Did you stay inside much?"

"No, my mother's part albino." I could hear slight bitterness in my voice as I mentioned my mother, but I was sure that Eric couldn't hear it.

He studied my face apprehensively, and I sighed. It looked like clouds and a sense of humor didn't mix well. Either that or people in Forks didn't know how to take a sarcastic joke. Eric lead me around the cafeteria, to the south buildings by the gym. Eric walked me right to the door, though it was clearly marked as Mr. Jefferson's Government class. He wished me good luck before heading to his own class

the rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My Trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, who I would have hated anyway just because of the suject he taught, was the only one who mad me stand in front of the class and introduce myself. I spoke so quickly that I was sure no one could understand what I was saying, and practically ran back to my seat.

After two classes, i began to recognized several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how i was liking Forks. I tried to be diplomatic ... by telling lies most of the time, I guess. But at least I never needed the map.

One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Spanish, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. she was small, several inches shorter than my five feet four inches, but her wildly curly dark hair mad up a lot of her height. I couldn't remember her name, so I smiled and nodded as she prattled about teachers and classes, not even bothering to try to keep up.

We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends that she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed to be impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. Eric waved at me from across the room.

It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, **(AN: Here comes Edward (finally) YAY!!!! Let the romance begin!) **trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.

They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and the weren't eating, though they each had a tray fo untouched food in ffront of them. They weren't gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention.

They didn't look anything alike. Of the three boys, one was big -- muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair. Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond. The last was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, bronze-colored hair. Her was more boyish than the others, who looked lith they could be in college, or even teachers here rather than students.

The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of the _Sports Illustrated_ swimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl aroud her take a hit on ther self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back, reminding me a lot of Zerlinda's hair. The short girl was pixielike, thin in the extreme, wiht small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.

And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in the sunless town, including me and Zerlinda, who was almost as pale as me but not quite. They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under their eyes like they weren't getting enough sleep at night.

But it was not even all this the reason I couldn't look away.

I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you neverexpected to see unless it was in a modling shoot or movie or magizine. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful, but I was able to narrow it down to two. The perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy.

They were all looking away from each other and the other students and anything in particular as far as I could tell. As I watched, the pixie girl rose with her tray and walked away with a grace that should be on a runway. She threw away her tray and glided throught the back door, faster thank I would have thought possible. My eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.

"Who are _they?"_ I asked the girl whose name I had forgotten.

As she looked up to see who I meant -- though probably already knowing from my tone -- suddenly he looked at her, ther tinner one, the boyish one, the youngest perhaps. He looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes flickered to mine.

He looked away quickly, more quickly than I could, thought in a flush of embarrassment I dropped my eyes at once. In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest -- it was as if she had called his name, and he'd looked up in involuntary response, already having decided not to answer.

My neighbor giggled in embarrassment, looking at the table like I did.

"That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife." She said under her breath.

i glanced sideways at the beautiful boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long pale fingers. His mouth was moving very quickly, his perfect lips barely opening. The other three still looked away, and yet I felt he was speaking quietly to them.

Strange, unpopular names, I thought. The kinds of names grandparents had. But maybe that was in vogue here -- small town names? I finally remembered that my neighbor was called Jessica, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jessica in my History class back in Arizon.

"They are ... very nice-looking." I struggled with the conspicuous understatement.

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all _together_ though -- Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they _live_ together." Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town, I thought critically. But, if I was being honest, I had to admit that even in Phoenix, it would cause gossip.

"Which ones are the Cullens?" I asked. "They don't look related..."

"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thrities. They're all adopted. The Hales _are_ brother and sister, twins -- the blondes -- and they're foster children."

"They look a little old for foster children."

"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."

"That really kind of nice -- for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."

"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I got the impression that she didn't like the doctor and his wife for some reason. With the glances she was throwing at their adopted children, I would presume the reason was jealousy. "I think that Mrs. Cullen can't have any kids, though," she added, as if that lessened their kindness.

Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange family sat. They continued to look at the walls and not eat.

"Have they always lived in Forks?" I asked. Surely I would have noticed them on one of my summers here.

"No," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska."

I felt a surge of pity, and relief. Fity because, as beautiful as they were, they were outsiders, clearly no accepted. Relief that I wasn't the only newcomer here, and certainly no the most interesting by any standard.

As I examined them, the youngest, one of the the Cullens, looked up and met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his expression. As I looked swiftly away, it seemed to me that his glance held some kind of unmet expectation.

"Which one is the boy with the reddish brown hair?" I asked. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye and he was still staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today -- he had a slightly frustrated expression. I lloked down again.

"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don'e waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him." She sniffed, a clear case of sour grapes. I wondered when he'd turned her down.

I bit my lip to hide my smile. Then I glanced at him again. His face was turned away, but I thought his cheek appeared lifted as if he was smiling too.

After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. they all were noticeaby graceful -- even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Edward didn't look at me again.

I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would have if i'd been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be late fore class on my first day. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me that her name was Angela, had Biology II with me the next hour We walked to class together in silence. She was shy, too.

When we entered the classroom, Angela went to sit at the black-topped lab table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Edward Cullen by his unusual hair, sitting next to that single open seat.

As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching him surreptitiously. Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat. He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on hisface -- it was hostile, furious. I looked away quicckly, shocked, going red again. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table. The girl sitting there giggled.

I noticed that his eyes were black -- coal black.

Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions. I could tell we were going to get along. Of course, he hd no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by _him,_ bewildered by the antagonistic stare he'd given me.

I didn't look up as i set my book on the table and took my seat, but i saw his posture change from the corner of my eye. He was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad. Inconspicuously, i sniffed my hair. It smelled like strawberries, the scent of my favorite shampoo. It seemed an innocent enough odor. i let my hair fall over my right shoulder, making a dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher.

Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something I'd already studied. I took notes carefully anyway, always looking down.

I couldn't stop myself from peeking occasionally throught the screen of my hair at the strange boy next to me. During the whole class, he never relaxed his stiff position on the edge of his chair, sitting as far from me as possible. I could see his hand on his left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under his pale sking. This, too, he never relaxed. he had the long sleeves of his white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and his forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath his light skin. He wasn't nearly as slight as he'd looked next to his burly brother.

The class seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally coming to a close, or because I was was waiting for his thight fist to loosen? It never did; he continued to sit so still it looked like he wasn't breathing. What was wrong with him? Was this his normal behavior? I questioned my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she was not as resentful as i'd thought.

It coudn't have anythingto do with me. He didn't know me from Eve.

I peeked up at him on more time, and regretted it. He was glaring down at me again, his black eyes full of revulsion. As I flinched away from him, shringking against my chair, the phrase _if looks could kill _suddenly ran through my mind.

At that moment, the bell rang loudly, makingme jum, and Edward Cullen was out of his seat. Fluidly he rose -- he was muuch taller than I'd thought -- his back to me, and he was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat.

I sat frozed in my seat, staring blankly after him. He was so mean. It wasn't fair. I began gathering up my things slowly, trying to blck the anger that filled me, for fear my eyes would tear up. For some reason my temper was harwired to my tear ducts. I usually cried withh I was angry, a humiliating tendency.

"Aren't you Isabella Swan?" The voice of a male asked.

I looked up to see a baby-faced boy, his pale blond hair carefull gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at me in a friendly way. He obviously didn't think I smelled bad.

"Bella." I sighed, tired of correcting people, but giving this boy a small smile.

"I'm Mike."

"Hello Mike."

"Do you need help finding your next class?"

"I think I can find gym by myself, thanks." I told him, walking away.

"That's my next class too! We can walk there together!" I supressed an internal groan from becoming external as he walked excitedly next to me.

As we walked, I quickly realized that he was a chatterer and supplied most of the converstaion which made things rather easy for me. He use to live in California until he was ten, so he could relate to me. It turned out he was in my English class also. He was also the nicest person I'd met today.

"So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never see him act like that." Mike asked as we entered the gym. I cringed. So I wasn't the only one who had noticed. And, apparently, that _wasn't _Edward Cullen's usual behavior. I decided to play dumb.

"Was that the boy I sat next to in Biology?" I asked artfully. I was a genius at lying since I had to do it plenty of times to keep Phil from beating me. I still got beaten, but not as much as I would have if I had told him the truth, and I knew that for a fact because I started out being truthful to him.

"Yeah," Mike replied, bringing me out of my terrifying flashbacks. "He looked like he was in some serious pain or something."

"I don't know" I responded. "I never spoke to him."

"He's a weird guy." Mike lingered by me instead of heading to the dressing room. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have taked to you."

I smiled at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He was friendly and clearly admiring. But it wasn't enough to ease my irritation.

The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform, but didn't make me dress down for today's class. At Arizona, only two years of RE. were required. here, PE was mandatory all four years. Unfortunately. I wasn't clumsy, in fact, I was actually more graceful than most humans sinse I use to take ballet and other kinds of dance classes. I just wasn't a huge fan of sports unless you count dance which some people do and some don't. **(AN: I totally do!)**

I watched for volleyball games running simultaneously. I rembered how many injuries I had sustained practicing dance steps. overextending my hamstring while I was trying to go into a full right split when I didn't have it and could get my hand to the ground fast enough. Slamming my left, little toe into my dresser do a tourjete' -- a ballet leap where you jump hight in the air with one foot up and turn 180 degrees, landing on the opposite foot -- and breaking it in the process. **(AN: Both of these are very possible and I know because both of them have happened to me and the hurt like h**l!)**

The finla bell rang at last. I walked slowly to the office to return my paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong and colder. I wrapped my arms around myself. When I walked into the woarm office, I almost turned around and walked back out.

Edward Cullen stood at the desk infront of me. I recognized again that tousled bronze hair. He didn't appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I walked over to stand infront of the couches, waiting for the recepionist to be free.

He was arguing with her in a low attractive voice. i quickly picked up th gist of the argument. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Biology to another time -- any other time.

I honestly just couldn't believe that this was about me. It had to be something else, somethign that happened before I entered the Biology room. The look on his face must have been about another aggravation entirely. It was impossible that this stranger coud take such a sudden, intense dislike to me before even speaking to me.

The door opened again, and the chilled wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling my hair around my face. The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk , place a not in the wire basket, and walked out again. But Edward Cullen's back stiffened, and he turned slowly to glare at me -- his face was absurdly handsome -- with piercing , hate-filled eyes. For an instant, I flet a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on my arms. I took a few steps back before my legs ran into the edge of the couch and I collapsed onto its soft cusions. The look lasted only a few seconds, but it chilled me more than the fierce wind outside. He turn back to he receptionist.

"Never mind, then," he said hastily in a voice as soft as velvet. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." Andhe turned on his heel without another look at me, and disappeared out the door.

I went meekly to the desk, my face white for once instead of red, and handed her the signed slip.

"How did your first day go dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.

"Fine," I lied, a reflex answer to the question.

When I got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. I sat inside for a while, just string out the windshield blankly. But soon I was cold enough to need the heater, so I turned the key and the engine came to life. I drove back to Charlie's house, fighting tears the entire way there.

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**A lot like the chapter in the book, I know. This story is going to be like that to a certain extent. But I will add some of my own things in there too obviously otherwise it wouldn't be a fanfiction, right? I don't know if I mentioned this in the last chapter, but this is my first Twilight fanfic, I usually do Maximum Ride fics, so reviews are grately appreciated, of course, when are they not.**

**Happy Valentines Day, too, everyone who's reading this!**

**-Destiny / MaximumRide95**


	3. Return

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 3: Return**

When I arrived home I slammed my truck door close as I got out, not even bothering to get my things, and literally ran to Zerlinda's cottage. When the cottage came into view, Zerlinda came running out and wrapped her arms around me. I couldn't take it any more. Angry tears spilled from my eyes.

"Bella, what _happened?"_ She knew how much it took to make me cry, even if I was angry. For me to actually _shed_ tears is about as common as you seeing a total solar eclipse. But I was _sobbing_ and that was almost as rare as the end of the world.

I couldn't answer her, but just kept sobbing. When I finally gained control of myself again, she led me into the cottage and sat me on the couch.

"Did you make any friends at school today?" She asked gently, starting off on an easier subject.

"Yeah," I said, bitterness evident in my voice. "Everyone was just ... _peachy."_ But Zerlinda wasn't a complete idiot.

"Oh, no. What happened?" I shook my head.

"It doesn't even matter."

"Bella, if it's something that makes you flat out _sob_ then it does matter."

"There was a boy at school who just seems to flat out despise me."

"What's his name?"

"I don't remember." I lied, of course, and Zerlinda didn't look convince, but she didn't push the subject. I know I'm a good lier, but I've never been able to lie to Zerlinda and have her believe me, she's had too much practice telling if someone's telling the truth or not. But she also knew that if a boy could get me to sob, than it would be better for me to tell his name in my own time.

We talked, I told her the story, not mentioning any names, of course, and soon I was laughing. Zerlinda kindly told me that I needed to leave just before sunset. I agreed, reluctantly, knowing that I had homework to do.

*~*~*~*~*

The next day was better ... and worse.

It was better because it wasn't raining ... yet. The clouds were dense and opaque, so I could tell that it would rain later. I don't have anything against rain, but I don't love it either. It was easier because i knew what to expect of my day. Mike came to sit by me in English, then walked me to my next class, with Eric glaring at him all the way; that was nattering. People didn't look at me quite as much as they had yesterday which was a huge plus. I sat with a big group at luch that included Mike, Eric, Jessica, and several other people whose names and faces i now remembered. I began to fell like I was treading water, instead of drowning in it, another plus.

It was worse becasue I was tired; the wind echoing around the house had kept me up half the night again. it was worse becasue Mr. Varner called on me in Trig when my hand wasn't raised and I had the wrong answer. It was miserable becasue I had to paly volleyball, and, like I mentioned before, I don't really like sports. And it was worse because Edward Cullen wasn't in school at all.

All morning I was dreading lunch, fearing his bizarre glares. Part of me wanted to cnfront him and demand to know what his problem was. While I was lying sleepless in my bed, I even imagined what i would say. But I knew myself too well to think I woud really do it in the cafeteria, like I kept imagening. I would do it in Biology, where there would be less attention to draw to me though I knew it would be all over the school by the next day.

But when I walked into the caferteria with Jessica -- trying to keep my eyes from scanning the room for him and keep up with the conversation, and failing at both entirely -- I saw that his four siblings of sorts were sitting together at the small table, and he was not with them.

Mike intercepted us and steered us to his table. Jessica seemed elated by the attention, and her friends quickly joined us. But as i tried to listen to their easy chatter, I was uncomfortable waiting nervously for the moment he woud arrive. I hoped that he would simply ignore me when he came, and prove my suspicions false.

He never came, and as the time passed, I grew more and more tense.

I walked to Biology wiht more confidnce when, by the end of lunch, he still hadn't showed. Mike, who was taking on the qualities of a golden retriever, walked faithfully by my side to class. I held my breath at the door, but Edward Cullen wasn't there, either. I exhaled and wen to my seat. Mike followed, talking about an upcoming trip to the beach. He lingered by my desk, sitting in Edward's set until the bell rang. Then he smiled at me wistfully and went to sit by a girl with braces and a bad perm. It seemed like I was going to hve to do something about Mike, and it wouldn't be easy. In a town like this where everyone lived on top of everyone else, diplomacy was essential. I have had a little practice dealing with overly friendly boys, thanks to Zerlinda who gave some tips if I would ever need to use them, of course, in Arizona, they were no use. But here I might need them.

I was relieved that i hd the desk to myself, tha tEdward was absent. I told myself that repeatedly. But I couldn't get ride of the nagging suspicion that I was the reason he wasn't there. It was rediculous, and egotistical, to think I could affect anyone that strongly. It was impossible. And yet I coudn't stop worrying that it was true.

When the school day was finally done, and the blush was fading out of my cheeks from the volleyball incident, i changed quickly back into my jeans and navy blue sweater. I hurried from the girls' locker room, pleased to find that I had successfully evaded my retriever friend for themoment. I walked swiftly out to theparking lot. It was crowded now with fleeing students. I got in my truck and dug through my bag to make sure I had what I needed.

Last night i'd discovered that Charlie couldn't cook much besides fried eggs and bacon. So I requested That I be assigned kitchen detail for the duration of my stay. He was willing enough to hand over the keys to the banquet hall. I also ffound out that he had no food in the house. So I had my shopping list and the cash from the jar in the cupboard labeled FOOD MONEY, and I was on my way to the Thrift way.

I backed carefully into a place in the line of cares that were waiting to exit the parking lot. As I waited, I saw the two Cullens and the Hale twins getting into their car. It was the shiny new Volvo. Of course. I hadn't noticed their clothes before -- I'd beed too mesmerized by their faces. now that I looked, it was obvious that they were all dressed exceptionally well; simply, but in clothes that subtly hinted designer origins. With their remarkable good looks, the style with which they carried themselves, they could have worn dishrags and pulled it off. It seemed excessive for them to have both looks and money. But as far as I could tell, life worked that way most of the time. It didn't look as if it bought them any acceptance here.

No, I didn't fully believe that. The isolation must be their desire; I couldn't imagine any door that wouldn't be opened by that degree of beauty.

The Thriftway was not far from the school, just a few streets south, off the highway. It was nice to be inside the supermarket; it felt normal. I did the shopping at home, and I fell into the pattern of the familiar task gladly. The store was big enough inside that I couldn't hear the tapping of the rain on the roof to remind me where I was.

When I got home, I unloaded all the groceries, stuffing them in herever I could find an open space I hoped Charlie woudn't mind. I wrapped potatoes in foril and stuck them in the oven to bake, covered a steak iin marinade and balanced it on top of a carton of eggs in the fridge.

When I was finished with that, I took my book bag upstairs. Before starting my homework for the night, I changed into a pair of dry sweats, pulled my damp hair up into a pony-tail, and chedked my e-mail for the first time since I got here.

I had no new messages. I wasn't surprised, of course. I had my mother's and Phil's e-mail adresses in my contacts, but that was just about it. And the only reason why their e-mail were in my contacts was so I could know which e-mails to delete.

I had decided to read _Wuthering Heights_ -- the novel we were currently stdying in English -- yet again for the fun of it, and that's what I was doing when Charlie came home. I'd lost track of the time, nd i hurried downstairs to take the potatoes out and put the streak in to broil.

"Bella?" my father called out when he heard me on the stairs.

Who else? I thought to myself.

"hey, Dad, welcome home."

"Thanks." he hung up his gun belt and stepped out of heis boots as i bustled about the kitchen. As far as I was aware, he'd never shot the gun on the job. But he kept it ready. When icame here as a child, he would always remove the bullets as soon as he walked in the door. I guess he considered me old enough now not to shoot myself by accident, and not depressed enough to shoot myself on purpose.

"what's for dinner?" he asked wirly. My mother was an imaginative cook, and her experiments weren't always edible. I was surprised, and sad, that he seemed to remember that far back.

"Steak and potatoes," I answered, and he looked relieved.

He seemed to feel awkward standing in the kitchen doing nothing; he lumbered into the living room to watch TV while I worked. We were both more comfortable that way. I made a salad while the steaks cooked and set the table.

I called him in when dinner was ready, and he sniffed appreciatively as he walked into the room.

"Smells good, Bell."

"Thanks."

We ate in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable. Neither of us was bothered by the quiet. In some ways, we were well suited for living together.

"So, how diid you like school? Have you made any friends?" he asked as he was taking seconds.

"Well, I have a few classes with a girl named Jessica. I sit with her friends at lunch. And there's this boy, Mike, who's very friendly. Everybody seems pretty nice." With the exception of one, I added in my mind, but refused to voice it aloud.

"That must be Mike Newton. Nice kid -- nice family. His dad owns the sporting goods store just outside of town. He makes a good living off all the backpackers who come through here."

"Do you know the Cullen family?" I asked hesitantly.

"Dr. Cullen's family? Sure. Dr. Cullen's a great man."

"They ... the kids ... are a little different. They don't seem to fit in very well at school."

Charlie surprised me by looking angry.

"People in this town," he muttered. "Dr. Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make tem times the salary he gets here," he continued, getting louder. "We're lucky to have him -- lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's and asset to the community, and all of those kids are well behaved and polite. I had my doubts, when they first moved in, with all those adopted teenagers. I thought we might have some problems wit them. But they're all very mature -- I haven't had one speck of trouble from any of them. That's more than I can say fro the children of some folks who have lived in this town for generations. And they stick together the way a family should -- camping trips every other weekend ... Just because they're newcomers, people have to talk."

It was the longest speech I'd ever heard Charlie make. He must feel strongly about whatever people were saying.

I backpedaled. "They seemed nice enough to me. I just noticed they kept to themselves. They're all very attractive," I added, trying to be more complimentary.

"you should see the doctor," Charlie said, laughing. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on theiir work with him around."

We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started on the dishes. He went back to the TV, and after I was fished wahing the dishes by hand -- no dishwasher -- I went upstairs unwillingly to work on my math homework. I could feel a tradition in the making.

That night it was finally quiet. I fell asleep quickly, exhausted.

The rest of the week was quite uneventful. I got used to the routine of my classes. By Friday I was able to recgnize, if not name, almost al the students at school. My skill in volleyball was slowly increasing, but that doesn't mean I liked it any more than I did before -- I was just able to tolerate it more than before.

Edward Cullen didn't come back to school.

Every day, I watched anxiously until the rest of the Cullens enered the cafeteria without him. Then I could relax and join in the lunchtime conversation. Mostly it centered around a trip to the La Push Ocean Park in two weeks that Mike was putting together. I was invited, and I had agreed to go, more out of politeness than desire -- beaches should be hot and dry in my opinion.

By Friday I was perfectly comfortable entering my Biology class, no longer worried that Edward would be there. For all I knew, he had dropped out of school. I tried not to think about him, but I couldn't totally suppress the worry that I was responsible for his continued absence, ridiculous as it seemed.

My first weekend in Forks passed without incident. Charlie, unused to spending time in the usually empty house, worked most of the weekend. I cleaned the house, got ahead on my homework. I drove to the librabry Saturday, but it was so poorly stocked that I didn't bother to get a card; I would have to make a date to visit Olympia or Seattle soon nd find a good bookstore. I wondered idly what kind of gas mileage the truck got... and shuddered at the thought.

The rain stayed soft over the weekend, quiet, so I was able to sleep well.

People greeted me in the paking lot Monday morning. I didn't know all their names, but I waved back and smiled at everyone. It was colder this morning, but happily not raining. In English, Mike took his accustomed seat by my side. We had a pop quiz on _Wuthering Heights._ It was straightforward, very easy.

All in all, I was feeling a lot more comfortable than I had thought I would feel by this point. More comfortable than I had ever expected to feel here.

When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bit of white. I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks and nose.

"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."

I looked at he little cotton fluffs that were building up along the sidewalk and swirling erratcally past my face, and I was taken seven years to wear me, Phil, and Renee were living in Raliegh and it had snowed.

_**Flashback**_

_I was walking around the neighborhood, enjoying the rare treat of snow the weather had decided to provide today, when I heard an angry and familiar voice calling my name. Soon, Phil reached me and grabbed my upper arm roughly, dragging me to the three-story townhouse._

_"Where the fuck have you been? I was suppose to meet some friends and now I'm and hour late because of your dumb ass!" He went on and on, never giving me the chance to answer his question. When we were inside, I kept my head down and he flicked it hard and kept hitting it until we were on the second floor. He ordered me to my room and to not leave. I obliged._

_About half way up the stairs I heard the sound of thudding feet behind me. I chanced a glance back to see Phil, furry on his face, coming after me like he was out for blood._

_"I'm gonna rip your teeth out of your skull!" He roared in furry. I needed no council from my concious -- I ran the fastest I've ever run. Without the slightest thought, besides protecting myself from this abusive man, I ran into my walk-in closet and slammed the door closed, barracating it with all my body weight. Seconds later I felt the door knob twist against my stomach and pressure from the other side of the door._

_There was banging and more pressure. The door cracked open, to my horror, and I used more strength to shut it again. A split second after the door hit it's frame, it was flung open and I couldn't close it again. I was slammed against the wall, from the force, and hit my head hard. My vision shook as I almost lost conciousness, but I held on. Phil was towering over me and I layed on the floor. He hit me and beat me and eventually left._

_As I caught my breath I was able to feel the back of my head. No blood. The phone soon rang and I walked over to it with unstable legs. I answered it as I sat on my bed._

_"Hello?"_

_"Why the hell did you run away?!" Renee's angry voice said quietly through the phone. She was still at work, so she couldn't yell at me ... yet._

_"I didn't run away, I was walking and enjoying the snow." I told her, my voice surprisingly calm._

_"Bullshit. Don't lie -- tell me the truth."_

_I sighed._

_"You wouldn't believe it was the truth even it I was telling it -- even if it was staring you in the face right now."_

_"Yes I would." She argued._

_"No, you wouldn't. Because the only time you believe something is the truth is when the story fits what you believe. The truth doesn't fit what you believe because what you believe is what Phil told you." I had hung up then and fell asleep on my bed._

_That night I had gotten more hits and beatings and gotten grounded, well ... longer anyways because I was always grounded for something. Whether I did it or not._

_**End of Flashback**_

"Yeah, snow." I said, dragging myself out of my thoughts. There was no enthusiasm in my voice and Mike caught it and looked at me in surprise.

"Don't you like the snow?" I sigh, really not wanting to explain this to him.

"Yes, Mike, I like the snow. It just has some bad memories that come with it for me." I could see the question forming on his lips, so I added, "Memoried that I would rather not share with anyone else. They are personal matters that I would prefer to keep to myself."

He nodded in understanding just before a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked into the back of his head. We both turned to see where it came from. I had my suspicions about Eric, who was walking away, his back toward us -- in the wrong direction for his next class. Mike apparently had the same notion. He bent over and began scraping together a pile of white mush.

"I'll see you at lunch, okay?" I kept walking.

He just nooded, eyes keen on Eric's retreating figure.

Throughout the mornign, eeveryone cahttered excitedly about the snow; apparently it was the firs snowfall of htenew year. I kept my mouth shut, the flashback repeating over and over in my head like a broken record that I couldn't turn off.

I walked alerly to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish. Mush balls were flying everywhere. I kept a binder in my hands, ready to use it as a shield if necessary. Jussica thought I was hilarious, but something in my expression kept her from lobbing a snowball at me herself.

Mike causht up to us as we walked in the doors, laughing, with ice melting teh spikes in his hair. He and Jessica were tlaking animatedly about the snw fight as we got in line to buy food. I glance toward that table in the corner out of habit. And then I froze where i stood. There were five people at the table.

Jessica pulled on my arm.

"Hello? Bella? What do you want?"

I looked down; my ears were hot. I had no reason to feel self-conscious, I reminded myself. I hadn't done anything wrong.

"What's with Bella?" Mike asked Jessica.

"Nothing," I answered. "I'll just get a soda today." I caught up to the end of the line.

"Aren't you hungry?" Jessica asked.

"Actually, I feel a little sick," I said, my eyes still on the floor.

I waited for them to get their food, and then followed them to a table, my eyes on my feet.

I sipped my soda slowly, my stomach churning. Twice Mike asked, with unnecessary concern, how I was feelign.

I told him it was nothing, but I was wondering if I should play in up and escape to the nurse's office for the next hour.

Ridiculous. I shouldn't have to run away.

I decided to permit myself one glance at the Cullen family's table. If he was glaring at me, I would glare back.

They were laughing. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett all had their hair entirely saturated with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his drippign hair toward them. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else -- only they looked more like a scene from a movie than the rest of us.

But, aside from the laughter and playfulness, there was something different, andI couldn't quite pinpoint what that difference was. I examined Edward the most carefully. His skin was less pale, I decided -- flushed from the snow fight maybe -- the circle under his eyes much less noticeable. But there was something more. I pondered, staring, trying to isolate the change.

"Bella, what are you staring at?" Jessica intruded, her eyes following my stare.

At that precise moment, his eyes flashed over to meet mine.

i dropped my head, letting my hair fall to conceal my face. I was sure, though, in the instant our eyes met, that he didn't look harsh or unfriendly as he had the last time I'd seen him. He looked merely curious again, unsatisfied in some way.

"Edward Cullen is staring at you," Jessica giggled in my ear.

"Ed doesn't look angry, does he?" I couldn't help asking.

"No," she said, sounding confused by my question. "Should he be?"

"I don't think he likes me," I confided. I still felt queasy. I put my head down on my arm.

"The Cullens don't like anybody... well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them. But he's still staring at you."

"Stop looking at him," I hissed.

She snickered, but she looked away. I raised my head enough to make sure that she did, contemplatind violence if she resisted.

Mike interrupred us then -- he was planning an epic battle of the blizzard in the parking lot after school and wanted us to join. Jessica agreed enthusiastically. The way she looked at Mike left little doubt that she would be up for anything he suggested. I kept silent. I would have to hide in the gym until the parking lot cleared.

I didn't really want to walk to class with Mike as usual -- he seemed to be a popular target for the snowball snipers -- but when we went to the door, everyone besides me groaned in usison. It was raining, washing all traces of the snow away in clear, icy ribbons dow the side of the walkway. I pulled my hood u, secretly pleased -- hopefully the flashbacks would stop playing over and over in my head. I would also be free to go straight home after Gym.

Mike kept makeing a string of complains on the way to building four.

Once inside the classroom, I saw with relief that my table was still empty. Mr. Banner was walking around the room, distributing one microscope and box of slides to each table. Class didn't start for a few minutes, and the room buzzed with conversation. I kept my eyes way from the door, doodling idly on the cover of my notebook.

I heard very clearly when the chair next to me moved, but my eyes stayed carefully focused on the pattern I was drawing.

"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice.

I looked up, stunned thathe was speaking to me, He was sitting as far away from me as the desk allowed, but his chair was angled toward me. His hair was dripping wet, disheveled -- even so, he looked like he'd just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. His dazzling face was friendly, open, a slight smile on his flawless lips. But his eyes were careful.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."

My mind was spinning with confusion. Had I made up the whole thing? He was perfectly polite now. I had to speak; he was waiting. But I coudn't think of anything conventional to say.

"How do you know my name?" I finally asked.

He laughed a soft, enchantin laugh that reminded me of Zerlinda's laugh.

"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."

I grimaced and the ugly truth that I had already knew before I got here.

"No," I persisted. "I meant, why did you call me Bella?"

He seemed confused. "Do you prefer Isabella?"

"No, I like Bella," I said. "But I think Charlie -- I mean my dad -- mus call me Isabella behind my back -- that's what everyone here seems to know me as," I tried to explain.

"Oh." He said, thankfully letting the matter drop.

Mr. Banner started class at that moment. I tried to concentrate as he explained the lab we would be doing today. The slidesin the box were out of order. Working as lab partners, we had to separate the slide of onion root tip cells into the phases of mitosis they represented and label them accordingly. We weren't supposed to use our books. In twenty minutes, he would be coming around to see who had it right.

"Get started," he commanded.

"Ladies first, partner?" Edward asked. I looked up to see him smiling a crooked smile so beautiful.

"Alright." I agreed hesitantly.

I was showing off, just a little. I'd already done this lab, and I knew what I was looking for. It should be easy. Isnapped the first slide into place under the microscope and adjusted it quickly to the 40X objective. I studied the slide briefly.

My assessment was confident. "Prophase."

"Do you mind if I look?" he asked as i began to remove the slide. His hand caught mine, to stop me, as he asked. His fingers wre like ice, as if he'd been holdign them in a snowdrift before class. But that wasn't why I jeked my hand away so quickly. At his touch, my sking stung as if an electric current had just passed though us.

"I'm sorry." he muttered, pulling his hand back immediately. However, he continued to reach for the microscope. I watched him, still staggered, as he examined the slide for an even shorter time than I had.

"Prophase," he agreed, writing it neatly in the first spce on our worksheet. He swiftly switch out the first slide for the for the second, and then glanced at it cursorily.

"Anaphase," he murmured, writing it down as he spoke.

I kept my voice indifferent. "May I?"

He smirked and pushed the microscop to me.

I looked through the eyepiece, eager to correct him, only to be disappointed.

"Slide three?" I held out my hand without looking at him.

He handed it to me; it seemed like he ws being careful not to touch my skin again.

I took themost fleeting look I could manage.

"Interphase." I passed him the microscope before he could ask for it. He took a swift peek, and then wrote it down. I would have written it down myself, but his script seemed so well-practised compared to mine which intimidated me for some reason. It was like I didn't want to spoil the page with my scrawl -- ridiculous.

We were finished before anyone else was close. Icould see Mike and his partner comparing two slides again and again, and another group had their book open under the table.

Which left me with nothign to do but try to not look at Edward ... unsuccessfully. I galnced up, and he was staring at me, that same inexplicable look frustration in his eyes. Suddenly I identified that subtle difference in his face.

"Did you get contacts?" I asked without a thought.

"No." He answered, seeming puzzled by mu unexpected question.

"Oh. Last I saw you I seem to remember your eyes being ... black." I said. "Maybe I'm wrong." I said, knowing I wasn't and I hinted that in my tone, not bothering to cover it up.

He shrugged, and turned his now golden eyes away from me. He must be lying for some reason, I concluded, or Forks is just making me crazy. I thought about it and eventually marked out the latter as being false.

I looked down to see that his hands were clenched into hard fists again.

Mr. Banner came to our table then, to see why we weren't working. He looked over our shoulders to glance at the completed lab, and stared more intently to check the answeres.

"So, Edward, didn't you think Isabella shoud get a chance with the microscope?" Mr. Banner asked.

"Bella." Edward and I corrected in unison. I looked away as Edward continued.

"Actually, she identified three of the five."

"Have you done this lab before?" Mr. Banner asked, looking at me with a skeptical expression.

"Not with onion root." I said.

"Whitefish blastula?"

"Yes."

"Were you in an advanced placement program in Phoenix?"

"Yes."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing that you two are lab partners." After he left, I returned to doodling on my notebook again.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it" Edward asked. I had the feeling that he was just foricing himself to make conversation with me. I shrugged.

"I guess." I didn't look up. The damn flashbacks still haven't gone away. I started to wish that Mr. Banner had given us more work so that it would at least give me something else to think about.

"You don't like the cold." It wasn't a questing, but he was wrong.

"No. The cold is fine."

"The wet?"

"The wet is fine as long as no one is throwing snowballs at me."

"Then what is it you don't like."

"Personal, not-so-pleasant memories that are a secret."

"Will you tell me?"

"If I told you, it would no longer be a secret, now would it?"

"I guess not. You like keeping secrets as secrets." Once again, it wasn't a question.

"That's right."

"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live in."

"You have no idea," I agreed darkly.

He looked fascinated by what I said, for some reason I couldn't imagine.

"Then why did you move?"

"Personal, complicated reasons."

"I think I can keep up," he pressed.

"My mother got remarried." I kept my eyes on my doodle.

"That doesn't sound so complex," he disagreed, but he was suddenly sympathetic. "When did that happen?"

"Last September." My voice was bitter at the memory.

"And you don't like him." He surmised in a kind tone.

"That's enough information on the subject." I decided, like a judge telling a courtroom whether a suspect is guilt or innocent. But, unfortunately for me, Edward was persistent.

"Why didn't you stay with them?"

"Personal reasons that are a secret." I said through gritted teeth, my hands forming fists as hard as his. The questions that left his lips brought back memories of abuse, which pumped adrenalin through my system, making me want to run back to Phoenix and beat Phil into a pulp.

"What does he do?" I relaxed a little at the question that I could answer without giving away too much.

"Phil plays ball for a living."

"Have I heard of him?"

"Most likely not. He does play well -- though he thinks he does. He's strictly minor league and moves around a lot."

"And your mother sent you here so that she could travel with him." I felt my body go tense again at the thought of my mother who didn't give a damn for a child she opted to keep. It pumped more adrenalin through my system, making me want to beat Renee into a pulp as well. But it was a harmless question that I could answer. I looked him in the eye and raise my chin a fraction.

"She didn't send me here. I sent myself."

"I don't understand." I sighed.

"And you probably never will." I said. He continued to stare at me with curiosity. "I left to make her happy."

"But now you're unhappy," It was true, besides seeing Zerlinda and not seeing Phil and/or Renee I was miserable. But I did not show it.

"And?" I challenged.

"That doesn't seem fair." I chuckled darkly with no humor.

"Life isn't fair." I, of all people -- or teenagers, knew that for a fact.

"I've heard that before." he agreed dryly.

"The rest is a personal secret that I would prefer to keep a secret."

"You put on a good show," he said slowly. "And you're a good lier." He added. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see." I resisted the strong urge to stick my tongue out at him, instead, turning back to my mindless doodle.

"Am I wrong?"

I ignored him.

"I didn't think so." He sound smug, I couldn't stand it. I looked him back in the eye.

"Why do you care?" I asked, quiet enough to not draw attention to us. "You're the one who gave me a glare that would make a stranger think that I murdered your family. Then you left and didn't come back until now. And now that you're back, you're pretending that we're long lost friends. Why do you care if I'm suffering, why I left Phil and Renee, or if I'm having a hard time living in Forks? Why does it matter to you?" I finished my speech, irritated, and turned back to my doodle.

"That's a very good question." he muttered. After a few moments I sighed, scowling at the blackboard. I could still feel his eyes on me.

"Am I annoying you?" He asked, sounding amused. I turned my scowl on him.

"Annoying would be an underestimate." I growled. I hated that he was so persistent about my personal things. I hated that he treated me like I had bullied him his whole life one day, then leave, come back and act like I'm his best friend whom he hasn't been able to see in ten years.

"You're difficult to read." I heard him mutter as if he were talking to himself.

"Then you must be a good reader." I said.

"Usually." He smiled widely, revealing a perfect set of ultrawhite teeth.

Mr. Banner called the class to order then, and i turned with relief to listen. He had seemed interested in out conversation, but now I could see, from the corner of my eye, that he was leaning away from me again, his hands gripping the edge of the table wit unmistakable tension.

I tried to appear attentive as Mr. Banner illustrated, with transparencies on the overhead projector, what I had see with out difficulty through the microscope. But my thoughts were unmanageable.

When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed as swiftly and as gracefully from the room as he had last Monday. And, like last Monday, I stared after him in amazement.

Mike quickly skiped to my side and picked up my books for me. I imagined him with a wagging tail and lots of fur.

"That was awful," he groaned. "They all looked exactly the same. You're lucky you had Cullen for a partner."

"Ididn't have any trouble with it," I said, stung by his assumption. "But I've don't the lab before." I added.

"Cullen seemed friendly enough today," he commented as we shrugged into our raincoats. He didn't seem pleased about it.

"I wonder wha was with him last Monday." I said, sounding indifferent.

I couldn't concentrate on Mike's chatter as we walked to Gym, and PE didn't do much to hold my attention, either. Mike was on my team today. He chivalrously covered my position as well as his own, so my woogathering was only interruped when it was my turn to serve; my team ducked warily out of the way every time I was up.

The rain was just a mist as I walked to the parking lot, but I was happier when I was in the dry cab. I got the heater running, and unzipped my jacket, put the hood down and fluffed my damp hair out so the heater could dry it on the way home.

I looked around me to make sure it was clear. That's when I noticed the still, white figure. Edward Cullen was leaning against the front door of the Volvo, three cars down from me, and staring intently in my direction. I swiftly looked away and threw the truck into reverse, almost hitting a rusty Toyota Corolla in my haste. Lucky for the Toyota, I stomped on the brakes in time. It was just the sort of car that my truck would make scrap metal of. I took a deep breath, still looking out the other side of my car, and cautiously pulled out again, with greatersuccess. I stared straight ahead as I passed teh Volvo, but from a peripheral peek, I could swear I saw him laughing.

* * *

**Wow ... I can't believe I'm actually updating this soon. Anyways, please tell me what you think!**

**-Destiny**


	4. AN

Listen ya'll I am so completely truely and desperately soooo sorry that I haven't updated in over a year! I'm so ashamed! But I've been busy! Geez ... I need to cut down on the exclamation points, huh? Sorry - random thought :) The point is that my teachers have been giving me so much homework and I've been studying for mid-terms and trying to keep in touch with a friend who recently moved from South Carolina to Michigan over xmas break *sniff* and on weekends I just want to relax and do nothing! Plus, I'm exhausted after xmas - it's an extremely busy time of the year. In simple terms; I'm not as lucky as all you other peoples to be able to update often. I wish I was.

Anyways, I've decided that my Belated New Years Resolution was to try to update at least one of my stories once a week - at least.

Aren't ya'll proud of me? :D

I'm still sorry!

Destiny


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